The face of a boy on an ad stares back at you with a somber face and eerily glassy eyes. And if a child passing by looks closer at the ad, it could even reveal an image that could help change their life.
A Spanish organization called the Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation (ANAR) released a controversial ad with a secret anti-abuse message, which is only visible to children. The ad has a lenticular top layer, which displays different images at varying angles to adults and children. ANAR wants to send out a message to children by using this ad, to call for help if they are being abused, even while they are accompanied with adults or their aggressor.
Any adult taller than four feet, five inches will see an image of a sad boy with a message about child abuse and how the ‘scars’ are only really visible to a child. Meanwhile, if a child looks at the same ad, they see a bruised boy with a message urging children to phone the foundation, if someone is abusing or hurting them.
This controversial commercial is a means to empower, and provide abused children with a platform or a safe way to call for help, something they may not have the ability to do otherwise. Many children sometimes don’t realize that they are in an abusive relationship, or even how to contact someone for help. Providing an image with a bruised boy on the poster is an effort to relay the message that this boy is facing the same issue as a child, who is being abused, and that there is someone out there that can help.
The issue
Child abuse is an international issue, which isn’t just subject to one country or region. Child abuse exists in every form, and isn’t only limited to physical abuse. In child abuse, a child can be neglected, or sexually, mentally, and verbally abused as well. According to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), in 2007, only 154 child abuse cases were reported in Singapore, where as in 2008, 176 cases were reported. Although this can be considered a relatively low number, it has been on the rise in the past few years.
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Facts and stats
According to the MSF, close to 30% of people in Singapore believe that caning is considered as physical abuse. It makes you question what the other 70% of the population justifies as physical abuse. This statistic sheds light on the fact that physical abuse can be happening in every household, but is not being properly reported. Only 44.4% of people think that reporting child abuse cases should be made compulsory for all Singaporeans.
Think about these stats and these facts, a child abused -- is a childhood gone to waste. Children are forced to see a horrible side of life that could’ve been pleasant. It’s the sad truth of today’s reality. What will it take to prevent and end all child abuse in Singapore?
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Watch this video for more on child abuse: